Architecture degree helped build sensitivity for business, says Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata also said that he would like to be remembered for making a difference. (Image: Humans of Bombay)

Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata shared his passion for architecture – a subject in which he holds a degree from Cornell University, and said it would have been his profession of choice.

Regarded as a “legend” in the Indian corporate sector, 83-year-old Tata said that if not for his responsibility to the conglomerate, he would have pursued success in architecture.

In a video interview, Tata said the profession “inspired and motivated” him and he even worked in the field for two years, Mint reported. He in fact was studying engineering – as per his father’s wishes, but realised that architecture was his “true calling”.

“I never regretted being an architect. I only regret that I was not able to practice it for long. I would have tried to become a successful architect if I wasn't leading Tata Sons,” he said.

Tata also credited his background in architecture for helping inculcate a sense of humanism in his business dealings and said “one would be amiss” to think that anyone with an architecture degree is “not well-equipped to do business”.

“Skills garnered as an architect, especially ones that deal with putting things together, inculcate a sense of humanism. The sensitivity that you create as an architect, the ability to put things together, the ability to run a project on the basis of a budget, the intricacies of different materials coming together, all those things are well taught in an architectural curriculum," Tata said.

Tata also said that he would like to be remembered for making a difference.